just chillin in the sprint store and using my time wisely (since it's still P-day)

hey hey! my comp and I had to get a new phone so now I am using the iPhone as I wait for all of our contacts to transfer. lol buttt good news: medical insurance cleared my MRI, so I can do. I was reading up on torn meniscuses today on wiki though and it pretty much describes it word for word how it feels. Some exercises from physical therapy and it’ll all be good. I feel bad this is all such a hassle here on the mish because it really isn’t that big of a deal but with all the kneeling I do it’ll be nice to have it taken care of and back to norm soon. thanks!! sorry about this. next time I won’t get hurt. I promise :)

why only get half the blessings when you can get them all??

I know everyone has different personalities meaning different senses of humor but it has never been so clear to me before until here on the mission field. My companion and I, though we are great at pity laughing at each other, definitely think different things are funny. So while I thought I would get good at the pity laugh with members and investigators, my companion is actually giving me the most practice. lol. She is great though, I don't mean that in a bad way at all. We have our laughs and we're always joking with each other so I'm a happy camper :)

Merry is going to be a seminary graduate? What what?! That's crazy talk! I know you are going to be relieved once you are done but do one thing for me and finish strong little sis! Don't look at is as a burden, but rather a blessing, and if you do that you are going to get so much more out of it. Yes I'm talking from experience. I regret my attitude with seminary, but I have since learned! Personal study in the morning is honestly my favorite part of the day. I like it even better than breakfast. (say what?!) Yeah. Crazy right? I really do L-O-V-E it!!!

Jakers! You're growing up to fast kiddo. I know you're probably loving it, but feel free to slow down just a tad. mmkay? thanks :) Yay for making it through another year of school and great job on your talk. I know you did wonderful :)

Family (and friends)!! I know you're all way busy and yes you have lives but, if you find the time (more like "please make the time") then I think it would be awesome if you each took a name to the temple. The Church came out with new pamphlets about family history work and we missionaries get to start using them! (And “by just came out” I mean justtt came out. Like this weekend, sort of thing) There is such a need for family history work and the more we get into it and help others do the same, the more I'm convinced the Second Coming is going to happen. First off, our hearts need to turn to our ancestors though like Elijah said. Plus, there are two parts to temple blessings: 1.) going to the temple, and 2.) having the opportunity to take a name and do temple work for them. Why only get half the blessings when you can get them all?? And if not this time, then for sure next time. I'm so glad you are all temple worthy though, what a wonderful blessing that is :) Enjoy! Eat some Fentons for me! Or that new place that Merry ate at and loved. That works too, I suppose.

To answer your question, I get $180 every month and Elders get $165? Something like that. They might get $160. Not too sure on that. Luckily the mission office provides us with basic materials (pots and pans, toilet scrub brushes, windex, shower curtains, plates, and then basic furniture of course) we just have to get soap, towels, paper towels, toilet paper, lysol wipes, etc. Not too shabby but I defiantly have to watch what I spend! It's easy to go over budget when you can buy stuff everywhere you look.

The knee feels a whole lot better now that it is drained! I defiantly want to do that to someone one day though so my dreams of being a nurse have been reaffirmed....unless only doctors get to drain knees? Then looks like I'm going to have to be a doctor! It was so cool to see. I ought to call today since the doctors have yet to call me about the MRI so hopefully I'll have more of an update for you next week.

This week has been a lot of organizing records and then knocking on doors of a bunch of less-actives to see what their needs are and invite them back to church. Since it's been lots of knocking and walking, I don't really have too many stories for you. Just facts. Some facts are:

-Colds are not a bad thing. When you have a cold your nose is often stuffy which allows you to not have to suffer as much from all the stinky smells in New York. It reeks!

-There are a lot of creepers in New York. They are way obvious about it though so it's nice. You know who to stay away from right off the bat!

-The typical "people have places to go and they are always on the run" is so not true here in Dyker. I swear people must not have anything to do because they are such slow walkers! It's quite amazing.

-People are quite creative with the excuses they give. Did you know that if you are allergic to kiwis, even if you see one, such as one in a picture, you start having an allergic reaction? So because of that, it’s a bad idea to go in public, like to church and stuff.

-There are no stray cats on the streets here because all the Chinos eat them. (okay, that is a lie, not a fact, but there is some awfully interesting food sold on these streets and you start to question what the heck they are using!)

There are others but that's good for starters. I love you all and will talk to you soon!!

--Hermana Watts

text message home after doc appt.

The Doc drained my knee and he will call my insurance to get it pre-authorized because I am going to get an MRI.  No ACL tear, but maybe a torn meniscus.  I’ll let you know on Monday.  Thanks!  Talk to you soon.  Love you!!  Bye :)
<Watts&Sanchez>

FELIZ DIA DE LAS MADRES!!

It was a successful day with millions of flowers everywhere. I love seeing guys give girls flowers! So sweet. At church they were handing out flowers to all of the woman and so I got one and got to give it to my "mom" (in the mission, whoever trains you is your mom and then your first district leader is your dad. Elder Jensen told me to never call him dad though...apparently he disowned me on the first day?) ha. Naw, it's just weird. But my "mom" likes to pull the mom card sometimes and tells me "you have to do it because your mother says so" so in turn, I get to pull the kid card on her. I really ought to use it a bit more than I do, but I'm sure I'm hard enough on her anyway so maybe I won't.)

I went to go look at my blog today and you're right, I do keep you way updated! Lots of info going your way - you're welcome and sorry at the same time. It's a lot! Thank you all for the support!!!

It was good talking to ya on the phone yesterday, but now I'm left with not too much to say...

[side note: every missionary is able to contact home via skype or phone call on Mother’s Day as well as on Christmas Day. Yay! It was fun for the whole family to be able to talk to her for an hour on Sunday]

Luis and Rosa - I know I updated you a bit during the phone call but summary of it all, communicate, communicate, and communicate some more. Communication is KEY in all relationships! Sadly their's is a bit rocky right now because they haven't been taking advantage of the opportunity to talk things out and really express themselves, but with prayer and fasting, great things can happen, so I'm hopeful for them.

And Alexandra, I just love her! I'm excited for her to continue learning more and I hope her kids find interest in it all, too. We gave them a little kids Book of Mormon story book (the one with all the pictures) so they can follow along with her as she reads the stories, too.

I get to play handball today!...well hopefully.

I hope you all have a great day too. Love youuuu <3

-Hermana Watts

p.s. I'm so excited for you Ciara!!!!! :D

Cinco de Mayo!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!!!

No, we didn't really do much celebrating because all the members that really liked to celebrate skipped church, and celebrated without us. haha. There was a huge parade in Flushing so that's where all those who wanted to really party went. Instead we broke our fast with a Dominican family, The Tollentinos, who I must say are awesome!! I decided Dominican food is some of the best you can get and yes, Dominicans talk wayyy fast so I was pretty much lost the whole time. They all speak English too but they love to mess with us missionaries and use their "Dominican" on us. lol

Well, Satan really does try his hardest right before someone gets baptized because Luis and Rosa are packed with things to do! Someone in Luis' family passed away and so this week they have the services for that and also they are having some of his family come stay and visit so they will be busy hosting. Luis had back issues and it has just been getting worse and worse. It's hard for him to go through 3 hours of church, it really takes a tool on him, poor guy. Rosa has a part time job, and with all the other life adventures, they are having a hard time finding the time to get rings, a dress, and get married in city hall. We have encouraged them several times to not fuss over those things but woman are woman no matter the age - she wants it to be like a real wedding. So please just keep praying for them. I don't want them to stall their baptism, and nor do they, so hopefully we can work something out.

Today we are throwing a surprise party for our District Leader, Elder Jensen. He goes home next week and it's his birthday today so we're really celebrating! He's been awesome and I'm going to miss him! I love the mission but it's hard saying goodbye to people all the time. You grow close to them so quickly and then bam! They are gone. Craziness. Anyway, I better start getting used to it! Except I don't think I ever will. Like with Sister Lewis? yeah, we still send each other weekly emails. They are short since we use most of our time talking to our families, but still, it's something!

Oh! I feel like an official missionary now! Wanna hear a story? Well I'm going to tell it anyway. This week, on Thursday, we went over to the Relief Society President's house because we were going to go visit less actives with her. We get there and she has food so we start eating. I had a cold and wasn't feeling too well so I only had like 3 taquitos which is normal but she was all "come, come!" So I had to eat even more. And even more. And then she cuts open fruit because that will give me "energia" so I start eating the fruit. Finally we are done and we talk about who we are going to go visit and then head out. I'm quiet and I'm walking slow because I'm really not feeling well. About 3 hours later we are in the home of someone who said we could come visit and I REALLY don't feel well. I ask if I can use her bano and she says yes. As soon as I get in there, not even 2 seconds later, my food comes up. Luckily the toilet was right there!! I finish with that, clean myself up, go back out, pop a mint in my mouth, help teach a bit of the lesson, and then I REALLY don't feel well again! I excuse myself, repeat what happened the first time, and then I get out just in time to say closing prayer with them. Yeah, lovely, right? Worst part, she brought out juice, oreos, and chocolate covered blueberries but I had to pass them up!! Sad day. Oh and after her house we headed back to the church and I taught English class. I'm better now, luckily, but for 3 days I couldn't eat anything because I just couldn't hold it down. It sucked! Missionaries are supposed to be invincible! I also had to pass up soccer. I sat and watched. That's right, you didn't read that wrong, I actually just sat and watched. It was hard but the second I tried to run, that same second, my tummy reminded me it didn't like running. haha.

When we were doing family history work I was able to prove I really am a 1/4 Mexican and lots of people found it interesting to find out I have grown up celebrating Cinco de Mayo.

Oh hey again! You know Sister Blosil? She sings on an EFY cd. Well, she is serving here in New York, not in my area, but in this mission, and I got to meet her this week. Man, she is just the cutest thing ever!

The area we cover is a barrio that is separted into 3 different parts. We cover Dyker Heights and the elders cover Sunset and Coney Island. We live in the Bay Ridge area.

Hermana Casiano, the RS President, is going to let us use her computer to skype home for Mother's Day so expect a quick phone call on Saturday so we can coordinate times for that on Sunday. I'm thinking it'll be about 6ish in NY time but I'll let you know :)

The Journal: I lied. I actually ended up keeping the journal for myself because I wanted one to write notes in during personal study, so scripture study notes. I just bought her a small different one. So thanks for MY new journal. haha

My Tooth: I promise I tried taking a picture of it, actually I tried taking a few pictures of it, but I just can't seem to get a good picture with it. The lighting is funky and you can barely tell. It's not that big of a thing. I'll keep trying to get a good picture but it's muy dificil entonces, lo siento.

We can't be late for a surprise party!

Love you all!!! Take care!! Thanks for the prayers, they are very much appreciated. I'm so blessed to have the support that I do :)

-- Hermana Watts

P.S. -- Read Mosiah 4. I read that chapter often. It's. just. so. good!!!